Bellows Falls trustee faces child porn charge
Toolbox
By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau - Published: April 22, 2005
BELLOWS FALLS — Police arrested a village trustee Thursday and charged him with possession of child pornography.
Stewart Read, 50, of Bellows Falls, was arrested after a search of his home and business last weekend turned up child pornography, according to Bellows Falls Police.
Read, a member of the Bellows Falls Board of Trustees, was released on a citation to appear in Brattleboro District Court on May 17 — the day he is up for re-election. A call to his home Thursday went unanswered.
Bellows Falls Police Chief Keith Clark would not reveal the details of the investigation Thursday. An affidavit by Sgt. William Hoyt, who investigated the case, will be filed today at Brattleboro District Court, he said.
Clark said the charges resulted from a search of Read's home at 1 Hapgood St. and his business, the Moore and Thompson Mill complex on Bridge Street, between Friday and Saturday.
Clark would not say if the alleged child pornography was discovered at both the mill and Read's home — which doubles as one of his businesses, Readmore Bed, Breakfast and Books.
Search warrants were executed for both locations, the chief said, and Vermont State Police assisted in the searches. The child pornography was in "various media," Clark added.
Calls to several other members of the Bellows Falls Board of Trustees were not returned Thursday. When reached at home Thursday night, Trustee Roger Riccio had no comment.
Read and his wife moved to Bellows Falls full time in 2000 after sharing time between their homes in the village and the town of Winhall since 1978, according to a recent profile in the Rutland Herald.
He is also the owner of Island Corp., a company that receives free power from the Bellows Falls hydroelectric dam under a longstanding agreement.
Island Corp. recently received intervenor status on Rockingham's bid to purchase that dam.
Clark said his department is working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to determine if any additional offenses were committed.
Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com.
22